Feature Request: Click an FT8 Station on the Map to Reply via WSJT-X

[wkhymes]

I would like to suggest extending the OpenHamClock WSJT-X integration so that an operator can initiate a contact directly from an FT8 station displayed on the OpenHamClock map.

Desired behavior

When OpenHamClock receives a WSJT-X decode such as:

CQ W1ABC FN31

and displays W1ABC on the map, I would like to be able to click that station and choose something like:

Reply in WSJT-X

OpenHamClock/Rig Bridge would then send the appropriate WSJT-X network-protocol Reply command back to WSJT-X, causing WSJT-X to behave as though the operator had double-clicked that CQ in the WSJT-X Band Activity window.

The workflow would be:

WSJT-X decode → OpenHamClock map → click station → Reply → WSJT-X begins normal QSO sequence

Why I think this fits OpenHamClock

OpenHamClock already receives and displays WSJT-X decodes, including callsigns, frequencies, signal reports, and grid squares.

Rig Bridge also now provides a control path between OpenHamClock and the station equipment. I am currently using Rig Bridge successfully with an Icom IC-7300 through wfview/rigctld, including OpenHamClock click-to-tune.

Being able to act on an FT8 CQ displayed by OpenHamClock would make the WSJT-X map much more than a visualization. It would become an operating interface.

This could be particularly useful when OpenHamClock and WSJT-X are running on a remote station computer and the operator is viewing OpenHamClock from another computer.

Operator control

I am not suggesting automatic or unattended FT8 operation.

The operator would explicitly select the station and initiate the reply. The intention is simply to make clicking Reply in OpenHamClock equivalent to the operator double-clicking that CQ in WSJT-X.

Ideally, the option would only be offered for a sufficiently recent WSJT-X decode for which OpenHamClock still has the information necessary to construct the Reply message.

Possible implementation

My understanding is that the WSJT-X network protocol supports a Reply message that allows an external application to respond to a decoded message.

Since OpenHamClock/Rig Bridge is already receiving WSJT-X decode information, perhaps Rig Bridge could retain the information from each recent decode and provide an API action such as:

Reply to this decode

The OpenHamClock map popup or WSJT-X panel could then expose a Reply in WSJT-X button.

This seems like a natural extension of the developing Rig Bridge architecture: OpenHamClock would not merely receive information from WSJT-X but could perform an operator-requested action in the other direction.

Thanks for considering it. OpenHamClock and the new Rig Bridge functionality are becoming a very capable remote-station interface.

73,
K5WKH